Aircraft door lock actuating mechanism

Abstract

An aircraft door latching bolt actuating mechanism in which inside and outside handles are provided to selectively actuate a crank having connections with one or more door latching bolts. The outside handle is supported for movement between a normal, generally flush non-operative position and a non-flush operative position permitting movement of the crank to a bolt releasing position. In one form, the handle is pivoted between its ends for swinging movement between its flush and non-flush positions, and in another form is spring biased for pop-up movement from the flush to non-flush position. The outside handle is normally retained in its flush position by a latch or lock engaged with a releasable keeper which can be manually released from the door exterior to enable use of the outside handle. When utilizing the inside handle, a connected first cam operates to release the keeper to enable movement of the pop-up handle embodiment to its non-flush position. In the case of the pivotally swingable handle, a connected second cam is utilized to move the released outside handle to its non-flush position. Movement of the outside handle to the non-flush position thus serves as a visual exterior indication that the door has been unlocked.

I claim: 
     
       1. In a locking mechanism for an aircraft door having an outside actuating handle supported for movement between a normal flush position and a non-flush position, and an inside actuating handle, the improvement comprising: means operable in response to the selective actuation of said outside handle and said inside handle for moving said locking mechanism into locked and unlocked positions;   manually releasable means operable to normally oppose movement of said outside handle from said flush position to a non-flush position;   means operable in response to a predetermined movement of the inside actuating handle in an unlocking direction including: a bolt actuating bell crank for moving said locking mechanism into an unlocked position; and   camming means for releasing said releasable means comprising a comming surface on said bell crank and a cam follower operatively associated with said releasable means; and     other means operable in response to said predetermined movement of the inside handle for moving the outside handle to a non-flush position in which it serves as a visual indicator that said door locking mechanism is in an unlocked position.   
     
     
       2. A locking mechanism according to claim 1, in which: said releasable means comprises a keeper supported for movements to holding and non-holding positions, said keeper having an actuating connection with said follower.   
     
     
       3. A locking mechanism according to claim 1, in which: the means operable by the inside handle to move the outside handle to a non-flush position comprises: rotary cam actuated means.     
     
     
       4. A locking mechanism according to claim 3, in which: the cam actuated means includes a rotary cam member connected for movement with said inside handle;   said outside handle is pivoted between its ends for tilting movement between said flush and non-flush positions and is formed with a projecting tongue portion on one side of its pivot adapted in the flush position of said outside handle to be disposed in the path of movement of said cam, and being operable thereby to swing the outside handle from said flush position to the non-flush position.   
     
     
       5. A locking mechanism according to claim 4, in which: said cam member is so rotatably oriented with respect to the rotation of said inside handle that the outside handle will be activated to said non-flush position when the inside handle is moved to said unlocked position.   
     
     
       6. A locking mechanism according to claim 4, in which: said outside handle is normally biased towards said flush position.   
     
     
       7. A locking mechanism according to claim 1, in which: said manually releasable means comprises: a key-controlled locking cylinder carried by said outside handle, and having a locking member movable into locked and unlocked positions; and a movably mounted keeper engaged in said locked position by said locking member in said flush position of said outside handle, and being movably disengageable from said locking member in response to said movement of said inside handle.   
     
     
       8. A locking mechanism according to claim 1, in which: said outside handle is manually operable from the door exterior to a non-flush position in which said locking mechanism may be moved to locked and unlocked positions independently of said inside handle.   
     
     
       9. A locking mechanism according to claim 4, in which: a rotatably supported element fixedly mounts spaced apart lugs upon which the outside handle is pivoted;   said rotary cam member is positioned between said lugs and is rotatable in opposite directions between stop positions of engagement with said lugs; and   said projecting tongue, in a flush position of said outer handle, is positioned in a notch on said rotatable element, and is radially movable by the action of said cam from said notch into a notch formed in an adjacent fixed holding member.   
     
     
       10. A locking mechanism according to claim 9, in which said adjacent fixed member comprises an annular insert co-axially surrounding said rotatably supported element, and whereby, upon further manual tilting movement of the outside handle the projecting tongue will be released from said holding notch and enable rotational movement of the outside handle so as to independently actuate the locking mechanism; and   in which said annular insert serves as a stop in coaction with said projecting tongue to retain the outer handle in a fully tilted non-flush position so long as the tongue is not in registration with said holding notch.   
     
     
       11. In a locking mechanism for an aircraft door having an outside actuating handle supported for movement between a normal flush position and a non-flush position, and an inside actuating handle, the improvement comprising: means operable in response to the selective actuation of said outside handle and said inside handle for moving said locking mechanism into locked and unlocked positions;   manually releasable means operable to normally oppose movement of said outside handle from said flush positions to a non-flush position;   means operable in response to a predetermined movement of the inside actuating handle in an unlocking direction including: a bolt actuating bell crank for moving said locking mechanism into an unlocked position; and   camming means for releasing said releasable means comprising a camming surface on said bell crank and a cam follower operatively associated with said releasable means; and   other means operable in response to the release of said releasable means for moving the outside handle to a non-flush position in which it serves as a visual indicator that the door locking mechanism has been moved to an unlocked position by the inside handle.     
     
     
       12. A locking mechanism according to claim 11, in which: said outside handle is supported for pop-up movement from said flush position to said non-flush position; and   said other means comprises a compression spring.   
     
     
       13. A locking mechanism according to claim 11, in which: said manually releasable means comprises: a spring biased latching lever carried by said outside handle; and   a movably mounted keeper engaged by said latching lever in said flush position of said outside handle, said keeper being movable by said cam follower to a disengaged position with respect to said latching lever in response to unlocking movement of said inside handle.     
     
     
       14. A locking mechanism according to claim 13, in which: a key-controlled locking cylinder means carried by said outside handle is operable to oppose movement of said latching lever to an unlatched position.